Executive Director Dr. Lilian Garcia (left, first row) and Coordinator for West Pacific East Asia Project Suzette Barcoma (4th from left, second row) were invited as representatives from DA-NFRDI in the “Indonesia-Philippines-Vietnam Dialogue Meeting on Harvest Strategy Implementation for Tuna Fisheries in Western Coastal Pacific Ocean” in Bangkok, Thailand.

To maintain the sustainability and health of tropical tuna stocks, particularly yellowfin tuna, in the region, a second dialogue titled, “Indonesia-Philippines-Vietnam Dialogue Meeting on Harvest Strategy Implementation for Tuna Fisheries in Western Coastal Pacific Ocean (WCPO)” was held on February 15-16, 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Executive Director Dr. Lilian Garcia and Coordinator for West Pacific East Asia Project Suzette Barcoma were invited as representatives from the Department of Agriculture – National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (DA-NFRDI), and a part of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) country delegation.

The goal of the second dialogue was to reflect on outcomes from the 19th Regular Session of the WCPFC, understand Vietnam’s experience in harvest strategies for tropical tunas, gather feedback and input from Vietnam on the outcomes during the first dialogue, follow up on actions agreed upon in the August 2022 dialogue in Manila, and plan for the 2023 three-country dialogues and pre-conference engagement.

The second dialogue is an offshoot of the dialogue between Indonesia and Philippines, wherein a key outcome resulted in a consensus to invite Vietnam to join the discussion to strengthen the sub-regional cooperation with a shared voice to the WCPFC.

The activity was sponsored by the World Wide Fund for Nature’s (WWF) Coral Triangle Program (CTP) together with the Yayasan Masyarakat dan Perikanan Indonesia (MDPI). ### (Cyrenes Moncawe)